Page 76 - Pilgrims in Georgia

V Bloody Marsh: The turning Point

In June of 1742 a Spanish force of some 52 ships and 2,000 soldiers approached St.
Simons Island, intent on driving out the soldiers led by Gen. James E. Oglethorpe.
Oglethorpe and his 900-man force were greatly outnumbered, but a powerful storm,
possibly hurricane, struck the Spanish force, scattering the fleet and reducing the odds.
The soldiers under Oglethorpe included Toonahouri, the nephew and heir of
Tomochichi, and Capt. Noble Jones of Wormsloe and his Rangers. The strongest English
fortification in Georgia — Fort Frederica — was on St. Simons. Another fort on the
island — Fort St. Simons — was evacuated by Oglethorpe when Spanish ships sailed
past it. Ironically Oglethorpe, who had worked tirelessly to prepare his men for the

campaign, was not on the scene at the key moment in the campaign when a force of
Scottish Highlanders burst out of hiding and put a Spanish force to flight. The fight
occurred near a marsh on St. Simons, hence the battle's name — Bloody Marsh. It was
a one-sided British victory, almost all of the 50 casualties were Spanish, but the
Spanish forces did not immediately retreat. There were further clashes at Fort
Frederica and on Cumberland Island before the Spanish sailed away on July 17.

When they left, they took all hope of future Spanish empire with them. Dr. Preston Russell, a Savannah pathologist and
historian, has studied the campaign for years. "Right up until 1742 it was wide open, Spain had just as much right to
that territory as anyone else. But, after Bloody Marsh, Spain never came north again. “ The Rev. George Whitefield, a

Savannah religious leader and the founder of Bethesda Boys Home, wrote about the battle, "the deliverance of Georgia
from the Spaniards is such that it may be paralleled but by some instance out of the Old Testament. "The battle,
although involving small forces and resulting in few casualties, has been listed as among the most important in history.
Oglethorpe and his men had done everything England had hoped for militarily when they established the colony.